Still Going Round in Circles

The machine stitching project that simply has to get done

has forced me to stop working on Winter Solstice.

It started because I simply had to find a way

of using my Egyptian cottons that I can no longer stitch through.

So I sit and couch strips onto sturdy fabric.

Round and round in circles.

All I have left to do is to fill in the white area at the bottom.

Ideas are brewing

for where to take this couching into more work this summer.

But I must finish the machine piecing project first.

I am impatient to get back to this though.

How I wish I could drag this tree home!

Birds on the edge.

Standing in a salty puddle

Behind the brush

He is wondering

if those Rusty Pups have spied him yet.

Break of Dawn Walk Along The Basin

Finally on May first the Rusty Pups and I walked the dike.

Snow still clung to the nooks and crannies.

I do not love Winter temperatures

nor the difficulties in getting around on ice and snow

but I do love the colours....

...and the random patterns created by naked trees.

The tide was low

as was the cloud ceiling.

We disturbed a heron. 

Gosh those clouds felt oppressive

Perhaps if I stood on tiptoe

I could touch them

and move them along

to let the sun shine through.

Human Marks on the Mudflats

When the tides go out

the mudflats reveal bits of history.

The random speckling of rocks

dancing around and among

a purposeful line of a man-made something.

More evidence of early dikes I presume.

A straight line heading for the meandering evidence of a stream.

Behind the dike we walk along

are remnants of a fence no longer important.

The marks left behind from a bridge of olden times.

Across the river the bridge foundations reappear

right next to the concrete upright of today's bridge.

Then the not so modern

and now unused

pylons of the old railway bridge.

All these marks left behind by us humans of yore

might be the beginnings of some work.

I wonder if I will witness much deterioration in this bridge

as the years go by.

When an Eagle Tries to Get Some Breakfast

I spied a pair of black backed seagulls

swooping over the mudflats

thinking they were courting

it is that time of year after all.

But no, they were upset that his majesty was looking for breakfast.

Then a common seagull noisily perched by the eagle.

Then they both looked at us

wondering if the Rusty Pups were within running distance.

And finally off they went.

He flew off into the woods.

Don't you love the colours of springtime break of days.

Then overhead three honkers flew up the Basin.

Isn't three a crowd!

Camouflage Scratchings

A first time for everything

Machine stitching on my scratchings.

Because that has been the work of the week.

Cutting yards and yards of cotton into strips

sewing them back together again.

Cut, sew, press, trim, cut, sew, press, trim.

Then I thought some rusted cloth

might look good atop the piecing

Round and round in circles

representing trips up the valley

to the hospital.

The machine work basically ended up covered with hand work.

Have a lovely week.

Scratching Into May

The week started off with snowflakes....Brrrrrr

But still the black duck couple

returned to the pond.

Snowflakes at the end of April!

Enough is enough.

Our ducks are wearing pink leggings

and a flash of blue.

Usually they are hidden behind long grasses

but of course this year the grasses are still dormant

so the ducks are quite visible.

The week closed celebrating Ashley.

Eight Months Old

Ashley Rose is a whole eight months old today!

She is trying to walk but doesn't crawl

Perhaps she'll skip the crawl stage all together!

No matter how she does it...

...her world is broadening.

Every now and then the mail man drops a footprint in the mailbox.

This time Donna had turned it into a spring robin.

It has been a reindeer too...

...and a birthday candle holder

so creative!

I am already wondering when I might be allowed to put a

paintbrush in her hand!

I suppose a needle will have to wait a while.

And on this momentous day

I finally spied the return of the osprey.

So thrilled am I.

I thought they might have given up on this nesting site

but just before I took this photo they were both sitting there.

Not very neat housekeepers!

Just like me.

Now I am looking out for the humming birds

better put a feeder out for them

it is still so cold.